Windshield wiper arm



Feb. 12, 1963 REESE WINDSHIELD WIPER ARM Filed Aug. 28, 1961 INVENTOR. ELHER E. REESE.

HIS ATTORNEY F" I gr. 2,. 3..., earnest t it rot sex i Patented Feb. 12, toss of the length of the outer arm section. Since in con- 3,tl76,92 ventional windshield wiper arms the effective lever arm WENESIJE D W of the extension spring may only be on the order of one E5139? Raise, Rachestei" agsggnm' to gemm forty-eighth of the length of the outer arm section, it is Qwijmafim Emmi? 3 comomawfi 5 readily apparent that the force required at the operating Ann. 28, 196i, Ser. No. 134,347 end oi the pressure lever in a wiper arm constructed 8 Cit-unis. (Cl. 15250.35) according to the present invention wiil be su stantially less the spring force required of an extension spring This invention pertains to Windshield wiper arms, and in a conventional wiper arm. In addition, the pressure particularly to an improved spring arrangement tor ap- 10 lever may be pivoted off center to increase themechaniplying pressure to the blade carrying arm section to cal advantage of the spring so that tne effective spring hold the wiper blade in contact with the glass surrace force at t e operating end of the pressure lever is multito ba cleanei plied relative to the force applied by the spring at the Conventional windshield wiper arms comprise an inn opposite end thereof. 01 mounting, section adapted for connection to a pivot Two embodiments of the improved spring arrangement shaft. and an outer blade carrying section pivotally confor Wiper arms are disclosed herein utilizing a force nected thereto by a transversely extending pin. two multiplying pressure lever. in the first embodiment, a sections normally have an extension spring dispose coil-type compression spring acts between. the extension lengthwise of the arm, the two ends of the extension on the inner arm section and the inner end or the pressnring anchored to supports on the inner and outer sure lever. In the second embodiment a torsion spring arm sections for biasing the outer arm section about its acts between the inner arm extension and the inner end piv "a1 connection with the inner section and thus hold of the pressure lever. a winer blade carried by the outer section in engagement Ftll'i. er objects and advanta es of the present invention with the windshield surface. By reason of the fact that will be apparent from the following description, reference the inner arm section is relatively small, the distance being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein prebetween the axis of the pivotal connection between the ferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly inner and outer sections and the line of the spring force, shown, and wherein similar numerals depict similar parts or the effective lever arm through which the spring acts, throu hout the several views. is relatively short. Thus, in order to obtain the requisite In the drawing: force at the tip of the outer arrn section to which the 39 PEGURE 1 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional blade is attached, the extension spring must be of view of a wiper arm having a prior art conventional exlarge diameter Wire having a high spring rate and a high tension spring. Spring 5mm 2 18 a view illustrating diagrammatically the The present invention relates to a spring arrangeforce and effective lever arm arrangement in a convenment for a windshield wiper arm wherein the requisite tional prior art wiper arm. force can be obtained at the tip end of the outer arm Fl'GURE 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view of one section by using a spring of small diameter which has embodiment of a wiper arm constructed according to the a low spring rate and low spring force. in this manpresent invention. ner, the high loads imposed on the pin pivotally inter- A FEGURE 4- is a fra mentary, sectional view of a wiper connecting the inner and outer arm sections are reduced arm constructed according to a second embodiment of considerably, thus reducing the wear on the several parts the present invention. which often results in failure of the wiper arm at the FIGURE 5 is a view illustrating diagrammatically the pivot connection between the two sections. Accordingforce and eiiective lever arm arrangement of wiper arms iy, among my objects are the provision of a windshield is constructed according to the present invention. wiper arm having pivotaliy interconnected inner and With particular reference to FIGURE 1, a conven outer sections and embodying s ring means having a tional wiper arm is shown comprising an inner, or mountlow spring rate and low spring force for obtaining the ing, section 1%} adapted to be drivingly connected to a requisite pressure at the tip of the outer arm section; pivot shaft ill, and having an outer, or blade carrying, seethe further provision of a windshield wiper arm including tion 12 pivotally connected thereto by a transversely exa force multiplying lever between the pressure applying 5O tending pin 24. The outer section 12 is adapted to carry spring and the outer arm section; and the still further a wiper blade, not shown, which is detachably connected provision of a wiper arm including a pivotally mounted r to at the tip end 16 thereof. A coil-type extension pressure lever carried by the inner arm section and disp is 15 $119105! y Outer arm Section 12 which posed. Within the outer arm section f r applying pressure lmfhldfis a lower CGVEI POIUOH ne end of the sp thereto a point located a substantial distance outwarda b ing Connected to a pp 22 Secureil t0 the olftef firm ly from th pivotal connections between the inner and Semen 12 and 0316r end of ihe p 18 bfimg C051- Omar arm sficfions nected to a hook 24- mounted on a transverse pin 2s The aforementioned and other objects are accomplished cafrifid y l r arm section til Th length 0f h in the Present invention by ivotally supporting a pressure outer arm section 12 that is, the distance from the axis lever within tie outer arm section on a radial extension of the P 14 to P end 15 y be In EXCESS 01: of the inner arm section and utilizing the mechanical twelve F advantage of the pressure lever to further reduce the Riffizmng P FIGURE the efiecllve f arm of the spring force required to produce the requisite pressure extenslon spr'mg 13 is perpendlcul? L1 at the tip end of the outer arm section. Specifically, the 3 axls of the P 3 and the of Spring force ooerating end of the pressure lever which engages the 60 F1 mfllcatfid y broken P In thls P l 6011 outer arm section is disnosed a substantial distance out- Structwn the hne Of Spring force extends lengthwlsg of Ward from the axis of the pivotal connection between the the arm l tranversely 0f lhfi axis 0f Pivot P In inn-er and outer sections. in this manner, the effective an agtllill Wmdshlfild Wipe? arm, i116 efififiiivfi ICVCI' a lever arm, that is the distance between the operating end lfifigth, L1, is On the Order Of ih1'@$-Bihth5 illchf the pressure lever and the axis of the pivotal connection between the inner and outer arm sections, can be increased to a length between one-fourth and one-third over, with sixteen and eighteen inch wiper blades being used on numerous vehicles, the force F2. at the tip end of the outer arm section must be on the order of eighteen ounces, or 1.12 pounds. Obviously, in order to obtain this force F2 at the tip end of the outer arm section through the effective lever arm length L2, namely the distance between the axis of the pin 14 and the tip end 16 of the wiper arm, the force of the extension spring, namely Fl, must be substantial since the product of El and L1 equals the product of F2 and L2. In a typical wiper arm the force exerted by the tension spring must be on the order of fifty pounds to obtain a force of eighteen ounces at the tip end of the outer arm section.

With reference to FIUURE 3, in the first embodiment of a wiper arm constructed according to this invention, the inner arm section is likewise connected by a transverse pin 14 to the outer arm section 12. However, the inner arm section It is formed with an integral extension 39 having its end disposed within the outer arm section 12 and located a substantial distance from the hinge pin 14. A pressure lever 32 extending lengthwise of the arm is supported on a pin 34 carried by the outer end of the extension 39, the outer end 35 of the lever 32 engaging the cover 2% attached to a channel-type outer arm section. The outer arm section may also be tubular in which case the cover would be formed by the integral bottom wall thereof. A coil-type compression spring 38 is arranged between the inner end 44 of the lever 32 and the extension 343. In order to multiply the force applied at the end 36 to the outer arm section 12 the lever 32 is pivoted oil center such that the distance X1 between the pivot 34 and the end 36 is half, or less than half the distance X2 between the pivot 34 and the axis of the spring 38. In the modified embodiment depicted in FIGURE 4, a torsion spring 42 is substituted for the coil-type compression spring 33 in the embodiment of FIGURE 3. However, the force multiplying arrangement of the pressure lever 32- is the same in both embodi- ,ments.

With reference to FIGURE 5, the effective spring force F1 which acts in a direction normal to the length, or longitudinal axis, of the Wiper arm operates on the wiper arm through an effective lever arm L1, namely the perpendicular distance between the line of force 28 and the axis of the pivot 14. Since the length of the outer arm section from the axis of the pivot 14 to the tip end 16, namely L2, is the same in FIGURES 2 and 5, and the force F2 at the tip end of the wiper arm is likewise the same in FIGURES 2 and 5, it is readily apparent that since the effective lever arm L1 in FIGURE 5 is several times longer than the effective lever arm L1 in FIGURE 2, to obtain the same force P2 with the geometry of FIG- URE 5, the magnitude of the force Fl need only be a fraction of the magnitude of the force P1 with the geometry of FIGURE 2. Since the product of F1 and L1 equals the product of F2 and L2, it follows that the ratio of the forces, F1 and F2, is equal to the inverse ratio of the lengths, namely L2 to L1. Thus, if the ratio of the lengths L2 to L1 is between 3:1 and 4:1, which arrangement is feasible with a wiper arm constructed according to the present invention, it will be appreciated that the force P1 of either the compression spring 33 or the torsion spring 42 need only be between one and one-half and twice the force F2 due to the force multiplication effected by the lever 32. If the lever 32 effects a force multiplication of two to one, a two pound spring acting between the extension and the end 49 of the pressure lever 32 will exert a four pound force at the point 36, and assuming the length of the wiper arm from the axis of the pivot 14 to the tip 16 to be twelve inch-es, in order to exert a force of 1.12 pounds at the tip end 16 the distance Ll, that is between the axis of pivot lid and the point 36 must be approximately 3.37 inches.

It is readily apparent that by constructing wiper arms with the spring arrangement of the present invention the load on the pivot between the inner and outer sections can be reduced to less than one-twelfth that of conventional wiper arms, consequently reducing wear on the several parts. In this manner failure of the pivot joint between the two arm sections will be substantially eliminated.

While the embodiments of the invention as herein disclosed constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A wiper arm comprising, an inner section, an outer section pivotally connected with said inner section, a pressure lever pivotally connected to said inner section on an axis parallel to the pivotal connection between the inner and outer sections and located a substantial distance. outwardly therefrom, the outer end of said pressure lever engaging said outer arm section, and a spring reacting between said inner arm section and the inner end of said pressure lever, the line of spring force between said pressure lever and said outer arm section extending normal to said outer arm section.

2. A wiper arm comprising, a mounting section, a blade carrying section pivotally connected to said mounting section for movement toward and from an associated windshield, said mounting section having an extension disposed within said blade carrying section and terminating a substantial distance outwardly from the pivot axis, a force multiplying pressure lever pivotally connected to the outer end of said extension on an axis parallel to the pivot axis between said mounting section and said blade carrying section, the outer end of said force multiplying pressure lever engaging the outer arm section outwardly from the pivot axis between said lever and said extension, and spring means reacting between said extension and the inner end of said force multiplying pressure lever and producing an effective line of spring force at the lower end of said lever extending normal to the blade carrying arm section.

3. The wiper arm set forth in claim 2 wherein said spring means comprises a coil-type compression spring.

4. The wiper arm set forth in claim 2 wherein said spring means comprises a torsion spring.

5. A spring assembly for a wiper arm having pivotally connected inner and outer arm sections, comprising, a pressure lever extending lengthwise of said arm and having an intermediate pivotal connection to said inner arm section on an axis parallel to the pivot axis between said arm sections, and a spring reacting between the inner end of said lever and said inner arm section, the outer end of said lever engaging said outer arm section a substantial distance outwardly from the pivot axis between said arm sections to produce an effective line of spring force extending normal to the longitudinal axis of said arm.

6. The spring assembly set forth in claim 5 wherein the pivotal connection between the inner arm section and said pressure lever is located closer to the outer end of said pressure lever than to the inner end thereof whereby the effective spring force applied to the outer arm section is a multiple of the actual force of said spring.

7. A windshield wiper arm including, a mounting section, a blade carrying section pivotally connected to said mounting section, a pressure lever pivotally connected to said mounting section on a axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of said windshield wiper arm and located a substantial distance outwardly from the pivotal connection between said mounting section and said blade carrying section, the outer end of said pressure lever engaging said blade carrying section, a spring reacting between the mounting section and the inner end of said pressure lever, the line of spring force between said pressure lever and said blade carrying section extending normal to said blade carrying section.

8. A spring assembly for a windshield wiper arm having pivotally connected inner and outer arm sections, including, a pressure lever extending lengthwise of the arm and having an intermediate pivotal connection to said inner arm section on an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of said windshield wiper arm, and spring means reacting between the inner end of said lever and said inner arm section, the outer end of said lever engaging the outer arm section a substantial distance outwardly from the pivotal connection between said arm sections to produce an eifective line of spring force extending normal to the longitudinal axis of said windshield wiper arm,

6 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,528,258 Zaiger Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 827,427 Great Britain Feb. 3, 1960 856,157 Great Britain Dec. 14, 196 0 

1. A WIPER ARM COMPRISING, AN INNER SECTION, AN OUTER SECTION PIVOTALLY CONNECTED WITH SAID INNER SECTION, A PRESSURE LEVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID INNER SECTION ON AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER SECTIONS AND LOCATED A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE OUTWARDLY THEREFROM, THE OUTER END OF SAID PRESSURE LEVER ENGAGING SAID OUTER ARM SECTION, AND A SPRING REACTING BETWEEN SAID INNER ARM SECTION AND THE INNER END OF SAID PRESSURE LEVER, THE LINE OF SPRING FORCE BETWEEN SAID PRESSURE LEVER AND SAID OUTER ARM SECTION EXTENDING NORMAL TO SAID OUTER ARM SECTION. 